NGD - 2010 Fylde Orsino

GTC

I've been telling myself that I have too many guitars and would not be tempted by another. However, a left-handed Fylde Orsino popped up on Reverb recently and I couldn't resist it. There was some sentiment behind my purchase - this model was played by the great Nic Jones - a hero of mine from the folk scene in the 70's and 80's - on his widely acclaimed "Penguin Eggs" album. It was also the model that was smashed up in the fateful head-on collision with a truck which ended his performing career.

Fylde luthier Roger Bucknall did manage to repair it but it soon became clear that Nic wouldn't be able to play it with any proficiency due to injuries to his right hand, So, Roger converted it to left-handed for Nic's son Joe - who did a great job  of accompanying him on his emotional farewell tour (2013, I think).

Mine has been built as a left-hander from scratch - and features the usual Fylde zero-fret. Mahogany back and sides and cedar top - and in excellent condition. It plays beautifully (following some truss rod adjustments) and has a lovely clear and balanced direct tone. I'm very pleased I succumbed to temptation.

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Stuckfast

Ooooh, very nice. Do you play in Nic's style yourself?

maltingsaudio

Fantastic, I had one for a number of years and loved it, only changed for an Alchemist when I came into some money from my late Grandmother. 

thomasross20

Nice one, I keep hearing these are great

Supportact

Very nice. These are great guitars. 

GTC

Stuckfast said:

Ooooh, very nice. Do you play in Nic's style yourself?

In my performing folk days, I used to play in a style inspired by the fingerstyle folk guitarists on the English folk scene then - Nic, Martin Carthy and (although you may not have heard of him) Clive Woolf (who I think died very young) - but basically my own. I used a lot of open tunings then. I was blown away by Nic's first album "Ballads and Songs" and met him at a gig the Hop Pole in Enfield in the 70's (June Tabor was a regular performer there). What made him different for me was his musical inventiveness and sympathy for the song. The guitar part is very simple, but his "Little Musgrave" is amazing feat of storytelling. I'm pretty sure I remember him playing an Aria acoustic in those early days - although Wikipedia says it was an Epiphone. I was using an "upside down" Yamaha FG30 - before upgrading to my first proper left-handed instrument - a Guild F20

Nowadays, I play mainly classical, having discovered how flexible standard tuning is (with the occasional dropped D).

GTC

thomasross20 said:

Nice one, I keep hearing these are great

Yes, I was keen to play one as I'd heard so much about them and you rarely seem to see left-handers. It is surprisingly good. A much clearer, direct and balanced tone than, say, a Lowden or Avalon - and gives my Santa Cruz a run for its money. I'm looking forward to trying it with my favourite Thomastik "Plectrum" strings (great for fingerstyle, IMO)

Tannin

Wow! What a lovely pick-up. I am sure it has gone to a good home where it will be properly played and appreciated.

Stuckfast

GTC said:

Stuckfast said:

Ooooh, very nice. Do you play in Nic's style yourself?

In my performing folk days, I used to play in a style inspired by the fingerstyle folk guitarists on the English folk scene then - Nic, Martin Carthy and (although you may not have heard of him) Clive Wolfe (who died very young) - but basically my own. I used a lot of open tunings then. I was blown away by Nic's first album "Ballads and Songs" and met him at a gig the Hop Pole in Enfield in the 70's (June Tabor was a regular performer there). What made him different for me was his musical inventiveness and sympathy for the song. The guitar part is very simple, but his "Little Musgrave" is amazing feat of storytelling. I'm pretty sure I remember him playing an Aria acoustic in those early days - although Wikipedia says it was an Epiphone. I was using an "upside down" Yamaha FG30 - before upgrading to my first proper left-handed instrument - a Guild F20

Nowadays, I play mainly classical, having discovered how flexible standard tuning is (with the occasional dropped D).

I'm a huge Nic Jones fan, he's one of those people who evolved a style unique to himself and had an amazing sense of rhythm. Some of the syncopations he does are bonkers. I would love to have seen him live! Are there any recordings around from your own folk days? 

GTC

Tannin said:

Wow! What a lovely pick-up. I am sure it has gone to a good home where it will be properly played and appreciated.

I should mention that, aside from the Fylde and the Santa Cruz, my other steel strung acoustic is my beautiful custom Brook Weaver parlour. Hopefully your Brook is getting closer,

GTC

Stuckfast said:

I'm a huge Nic Jones fan, he's one of those people who evolved a style unique to himself and had an amazing sense of rhythm. Some of the syncopations he does are bonkers. I would love to have seen him live! Are there any recordings around from your own folk days? 

I'm not sure if his two early recordings "Ballads and Songs" and "Nic Jones" (in his "Napoleon period") are still available commercially - but there are quite a few extracts on YouTube. I saw him live umpteen times in the 70's and early 80's - and booked him when I was one of the organisers for the Westlands Folk Club in Yeovil. He was always pleasant and modest - more aware of his shortcomings than talent. I also saw him with the short-lived group Bandoggs.

BBC4 Television did an hour-long documentary about him in 2013, the time of his extended emotional farewell tour. It is not on iPlayer, but maybe can be found somewhere.

Sam Carter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0wZBWsvLOI has done a very interesting analysis of the guitar style Nic used on Canadee-i-o (from "Penguin eggs")

GTC

Stuckfast said:

ople who evolved a style unique to himself and had an amazing sense of rhythm. Some of the syncopations he does are bonkers. I would love to have seen him live! Are there any recordings around from your own folk days? 

I've just come across a 10 min video with extracts from the BBC4 documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOwD4f6nwhw&t=452s

Stuckfast

I remember seeing that documentary when it came out, there's some nice bits in it, but given how many live audio recordings survive of Nic it's a shame there seems to be no video at all! (Also that American singer who inserts herself everywhere is teeth-gratingly awful.)

GTC

Stuckfast said:

I remember seeing that documentary when it came out, there's some nice bits in it, but given how many live audio recordings survive of Nic it's a shame there seems to be no video at all! (Also that American singer who inserts herself everywhere is teeth-gratingly awful.)

Yes - there did seem to be a lot of padding in the documentary. I think the American singer must have had something going with the producer  The sheer power and drive of "The Humpback Whale" though.

I also found that his first two albums "Ballads and Songs" and "Nic Jones" are on YouTube in full - along with "The Noah's Ark Trap", which is the one album I hadn't heard before, although most of the tracks are familiar.

Devil#20

Ritchie Blackmore used to get his acoustics built by Fylde when Roger was still in St Anne's, Fylde coast in Lancashire before moving up to Penrith (I think). Eddie Green used to work at Fylde and has now retired but he's the Dad of my mate Andy at work and he sorts out my guitars when they need work I can't sort out myself. He likes making mandolins and he does some really nice stuff. If I was in the market for a mandolin I'd get Eddie to make me one. He wrote a book on making acoustic guitars with a forward written by Roger. Not for the faint hearted though unless you like maths. I do and it makes perfect sense to me. He was also a design engineer at BAE Systems working on military aircraft (as am I) hence the heavy nature of the book. I have a copy he signed for me when I was last at his house. It's essential reading for anyone building their own acoustic guitar though. I should say he doesn't know I'm recommending his book and I have no financial interest in it. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanics-Construction-Acoustic-Guitar/dp/1912677059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VXQW9K695YIE&keywords=eddie+green&qid=1695680293&sprefix=eddie+green,aps,306&sr=8-1 

GTC

It looks a very interesting book if you are into the detail of learning why some acoustics are so much better than others. The maths is a bit heavy, but ,after seeing the calculations carried out by Glastonbury luthier Alan Miller on the 22-string harp guitar he made for me, it was a breeze!

GTC

Devil#20 said:

Ritchie Blackmore used to get his acoustics built by Fylde when Roger was still in St Anne's, Fylde coast in Lancashire before moving up to Penrith (I think). Eddie Green used to work at Fylde and has now retired but he's the Dad of my mate Andy at work and he sorts out my guitars when they need work I can't sort out myself. He likes making mandolins and he does some really nice stuff. If I was in the market for a mandolin I'd get Eddie to make me one. He wrote a book on making acoustic guitars with a forward written by Roger. Not for the faint hearted though unless you like maths. I do and it makes perfect sense to me. He was also a design engineer at BAE Systems working on military aircraft (as am I) hence the heavy nature of the book. I have a copy he signed for me when I was last at his house. It's essential reading for anyone building their own acoustic guitar though. I should say he doesn't know I'm recommending his book and I have no financial interest in it. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanics-Construction-Acoustic-Guitar/dp/1912677059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VXQW9K695YIE&keywords=eddie+green&qid=1695680293&sprefix=eddie+green,aps,306&sr=8-1 

After reading the Amazon details I bought this book. It is certainly not a "how to build your first acoustic" book but it is a fascinating in-depth analysis of the many factors which come together in making an acoustic guitar. There is a lot of science, supported by many equations - but you do not need to go into this too heavily to get a lot out of the book. It is quite a piece of work.

I was particularly interested in the bit about X-bracing and the positioning of bass and treble side braces. The author claims that there will be an impact on the tone if you change the strings round on a right-handed guitar for a left-hander. Common sense says it might but many notable luthiers say the difference is not perceptible (as long as you have dealt with other stuff, like saddle-slot angle). Empirically, I've tried it myself with a few different guitars, including a Brook Tamar - and to me it is imperceptible, too.

Nonetheless, an excellent book which I'd recommend to anyone interested in understanding the complex mechanics of an acoustic guitar

icu81b4

Fylde - excellent guitars. 

WafflesOnHorseback

Lovely guitar! And great to watch those Nic Jones clips.

steveh

Bit late to this party, but I have been a huge Nic Jones fan for decades, albeit not long enough to have actually seen him live in his prime. Like so many, the reviews led me to Penguin Eggs where, again like everyone, I was mesmerised by the intro to Canadee-i-o. I was (am) a massive Carthy fan at the time and this was a completely different (and more conventional) thing altogether. I immediately rushed out and bought all of his albums, which was a good thing since so many are now unavailable (I think due to copyright?).

Indeed, that led to me sticking a version of Little Heathy Hill up on YouTube a few years back, since so few these days have the opportunity to hear the original; on "From the Devil to a Stranger. What a lovely little tune, so beautifully played by him.

 The first "proper" acoustic I owned was a Fylde Goodfellow from 1976 - went out to buy an Ovation Baladeer (because of Larry Coryell) but came home with the Fylde - it sounded a zillion times better (i.e. like a real guitar).

 Several years later I did succumb to an Orsino in order to sate my Jones hommage but it was awful - one of the mid 80s wardrobes that seemed to be coming out of  their workshop around that time. Built like a tank and sounded like it - the low E was particularly dead and lifeless. Made my Goodfellow seem like a feather. Turned it around very quick. I've always hankered after an Aerial as well (I think Ian Anderson had one eons ago), but never got around to it. All of the models I've played from the 2000s have been great.

GTC

steveh said:

Bit late to this party, but I have been a huge Nic Jones fan for decades, albeit not long enough to have actually seen him live in his prime. Like so many, the reviews led me to Penguin Eggs where, again like everyone, I was mesmerised by the intro to Canadee-i-o. I was (am) a massive Carthy fan at the time and this was a completely different (and more conventional) thing altogether. I immediately rushed out and bought all of his albums, which was a good thing since so many are now unavailable (I think due to copyright?).

Indeed, that led to me sticking a version of Little Heathy Hill up on YouTube a few years back, since so few these days have the opportunity to hear the original; on "From the Devil to a Stranger. What a lovely little tune, so beautifully played by him.

 The first "proper" acoustic I owned was a Fylde Goodfellow from 1976 - went out to buy an Ovation Baladeer (because of Larry Coryell) but came home with the Fylde - it sounded a zillion times better (i.e. like a real guitar).

 Several years later I did succumb to an Orsino in order to sate my Jones hommage but it was awful - one of the mid 80s wardrobes that seemed to be coming out of  their workshop around that time. Built like a tank and sounded like it - the low E was particularly dead and lifeless. Made my Goodfellow seem like a feather. Turned it around very quick. I've always hankered after an Aerial as well (I think Ian Anderson had one eons ago), but never got around to it. All of the models I've played from the 2000s have been great.

Thanks for your comments. It is interesting that the eBay "bargain" alert for another Orsino lefty in a more recent post (which appears to have sold very quickly) was for a 1980's model. My 2010 absolutely sings - far exceeding the expectations of my sentimental purchase. It also plays beautifully after some truss rod tweaks.

I hadn't come across "Little Healthy Hill" before but found "From the Devil to a Stranger" in full on YouTube. Lovely little tune indeed.

I remember sitting down with him after a gig at the Hop Pole in Enfield (the early "Ballads and Songs" days) where he patiently explained to me the guitar part on "The Butcher and the Tailor's Wife". Lovely, modest chap. Although the guitar part is simple, I still think "Little Musgrave" is an absolute masterpiece in storytelling. I know it by heart!